by chance

phrase

: in the haphazard course of events

they met by chance

Examples of by chance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Just by chance, a guy who does what he is coached to do, continues to work really, really hard and do the right things, the ball somehow finds him. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 8 Nov. 2026

Park Ridge hasn’t met this and, so far, the eight percent of housing stock that is affordable only exists by chance—meaning the property is only affordable due to the market itself not by design. — Jesse Wright, Chicago Tribune, 6 Nov. 2026

In 2008, when observing another supernova, Swift by chance detected a slight rise in X-rays, which preceded a supernova explosion. — Mary Ogborn, The Conversation, 4 Nov. 2026

All of them got here by giant impacts that have pelted Mars for eons, occasionally blasting bits of the planet into space, some of which by chance fall to Earth. — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 29 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for by chance

• advance
• askance
• enhance
• expanse
• finance
• freelance
• mischance
• perchance
• romance
• circumstance
• esperance
• exceedance